Although they have been prominent in my sidebar for many years, I wanted to give another shoutout to the German equivalent of this blog, Von Stellwerken und anderen Maschinen, because the author has been trying their best to provide English translations of some of the key articles in a paralell blog, Of Interlockings and Other Machines.
While the former has hundreds of posts from over the last 10 years and the latter only about a hundred, the effort to provide some translations is particularly important in this niche subject because niche subjects have a habit of confounding automated translation tools like Google Translate. While the Germany version of the site is still pretty readable if you stare at it enough, the large sample of English translation pages now on the mirror site allows one to really get a handle on how Central European interlocking machines and signaling systems work. If you are looking for something to do on a cold winter weekend I highly recommend both of these websites as the author has a seeming endless supply of behind the scenes photos, both of in service equipment and preserved.
Wow - I just saw this posting of yours advertising my blog. Many many thanks for this amplification - I hope to supply more of articles now and then, although I'm not at all as perfect as you with keeping up my postings.
ReplyDeleteBest regards, and I hope to see many more postings in yours!
Harald M.
... and of course I'd like to translate many more, and eventually all of my postings into English, but - you know - time's flying ;-). Still, if anyone would like to see some specific text translated, or questions answered, I'll do my best!
DeleteHarald M.
There is another German project to model the entire European railway network as a series of signal boxes. It's playable in real-time, interconnected, with realistic timetables! It really is a magnum opus, and lots of fun to play.
ReplyDeleteIt can be found at https://www.stellwerksim.de/
If you speak even a small amount of German, it's not hard to figure out. Even if you don't, it can be fun to pick a simpler signal box and just play around. Just make sure to play in "practice mode" (Autarke Fassung), so any mistakes don't disturb other players. I suspect there are guides in English on how to play as well.
Oh wow, I can't wait to play it!
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